AUDIO: County council leader talks about saving £140m

First it was £79m pounds that had to be saved over three years - and everyone wondered how West Sussex County Council would do it. Now there’s a fresh mountain to climb – and it’s nearly twice as high.

By The Newsroom

Published 8th Nov 2013, 13:34 BST

It looks like the government’s going to reduce grants to the county council by a further 140 million pounds. And that’s become the new savings target to balance the books.

West Sussex County Council says most of the original 79 million was achieved by efficiency savings.

This time part of the answer will be getting outside companies to deliver some services.

The scale of meeting a fresh 140 million-pound target is ‘eye-watering,’ in the words of County Council Leader Louise Goldsmith, who has been

writing about the challenges in her blog.

In this extended podcast, county council Broadcast Media Relations Manager Chris Rider asked Louise if the council really could save such an enormous sum over the next four years.

West Sussex County Council